->''Thirty pounds of pudding and ham''->''Half a tank o' Pepsi''->''Stuff 'em all inside a man''->'''''POP!''' goes the human!''

This is when BalloonBelly is taken to its logical conclusion. Fill a human or some body part with enough food, water, air, etc. and they will eventually burst. Of course, when this is applied to DeathByGluttony, its usually PlayedForLaughs. There is little actual TruthInTelevision to this, as, while the skin can indeed rupture, it wouldn't do so drastically in most cases. Even barring that, the internal organs you are filling (stomach, lungs, nasal area) would rupture long before the skin itself. Yet in fiction, the rupture is simply measured by the body exploding.

Can sometimes be NauseaFuel, though in lighter works, the lack of blood and gore may counter this somewhat. Sometimes the body just pops and disappears, though sometimes, the exploding body will shoot the contents it was filled with everywhere, with the actual body parts not showing up.

Largely a DiscreditedTrope, as it was mostly born from an UrbanLegend that eating too much would make a person explode, then evolved to other forms of humans popping from overfilling. However it is still sometimes used in works that are not going for realism, and is a timeless favourite as a ScareEmStraight [[LiesToChildren cautionary tale]] against [[SevenDeadlySins Gluttony]]. Also favored in comedy, for the logical reason that it mixes StuffBlowingUp with VulgarHumor.

See also TheLastStraw, ExplosiveDecompression.

Not to be confused with ActionBomb (although there are rare cases of overlap), where people pop more like firecrackers than balloons, and on purpose.----!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Advertising ]]

* An TV commercial for the SNES game ''Yoshi's Island'' homaged the famous Mr. Creosote sketch by depicting a man gorging himself at a restaurant until messily bursting, splattering patrons with the contents of his stomach. [[NauseaFuel It didn't take long for a shortened version to start airing that cut most of this out.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Anime And Manga ]]

* PlayedForDrama in ''Anime/DragonBallZ''. This is one of [[RubberMan Super Buu]]'s first and [[NightmareFuel most brutal]] ways of killing someone; he liquefied himself and flowed into a man's mouth until he burst.* ''Literature/{{Paprika}}'' manages to wake the Chief up from his induced dream state by [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything laying down on him, saying she's going to be "a little rough," sinking into his body and causing him to inflate to the size of a three story building until exploding with a blissful look on his face.]]* Occurs in the short story ''The Strange Tale Of The Pylorus'' by horror writer Creator/JunjiIto. In the story, [[spoiler:a man named Piitan's stomach becomes a gateway to the afterlife (The Japanese word for Pylorus translates into "Spirit Door") causing him to vomit up stones that are the souls of the deceased. He eventually ends up with more "Soul Stones" in his stomach than he can barf up which causes him to swell up and then explode.]] It's definitely ''not'' played for laughs.* A villain in ''Manga/SpaceAdventureCobra'' has the power to inflate people who have eaten weird fruits of his until they explode. After demonstrating on one of the young women in his harem, he attempts to do it to Cobra, but he manages to give him a taste of his medicine beforehand.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* Mr. Creosote [[NauseaFuel (blaaargh)]] from ''Film/MontyPythonsTheMeaningOfLife''. The WaferThinMint is what finally sets him off. Many of the extras in that scene [[EnforcedMethodActing had no idea what was going on]] -- that large amount of retching and disgusted cries in the background? All genuine.* [[spoiler:Brenda]] (heeuurrrk) in ''Film/{{Slither}}''.* The goon who gets a firehose stuck in his mouth in ''Film/TheNakedGun 2''.* ''Film/BigTroubleInLittleChina''. After David Lo Pan's death, [[TheDragon Thunder]] inflates himself by inhaling and finally commits suicide by slicing himself open, causing a LudicrousGibs explosion of flesh. BodyHorror indeed.* [[spoiler:Marlena]] in ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}''.* One unfortunate {{Mook}} in ''Film/KickAss'' who gets shoved into an industrial microwave.* One of the more inventive deaths in ''Film/{{Leprechaun 3}}'' has a woman's breasts, bottom and lips swell until she explodes.* The inept 2003 horror film spoof ''Scream Bloody Murder'' has a girl killed by being tied to a chair and inflated to bursting with an airhose put down her throat. Her stupid friend, when finding her, can only goggle in horror instead of, you know, [[WhatAnIdiot trying to remove the hose.]]* ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet5TheDreamChild'' has a combination of this and AutoCannibalism.* ''Franchise/JamesBond'' examples:** [[ScaryBlackMan Dr. Kananga]] in ''Film/LiveAndLetDie'' dies this way after Bond forces him to swallow an oxygen bullet, meant for killing sharks. It is [[SpecialEffectsFailure notably unrealistic]] in that he ''literally'' swells up like a balloon, [[AllBalloonsHaveHelium rises to the occasion]] and pops, with no blood, guts, or even ''skin'' left over. Definitely a contender for the silliest death in the whole franchise.*** "[[BondOneLiner He always did have an inflated opinion of himself]]."%% ** A considerably more realistic ([[BloodierAndGorier and gory]]) version happens to Milton Krest in ''Film/LicenceToKill'' when his furious boss induces ExplosiveDecompression on his body.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* Stephen Leacock's ''The New Food:'' Technology has allowed an entire family's Christmas Dinner to be concentrated down into one small pill, just waiting for water to be added to reconstitute it. Then baby eats the pill.* In Creator/StephenKing's never-anthologized story "The Blue Air Compressor," Nately shoves the hose of an air compressor down the unfortunate Mrs. Leighton's throat, and overinflates her till she bursts.* In Jon Agee's collection of [[FunWithPalindromes palindromes]] ''Go Hang a Salami! I'm a Lasagna Hog!'', a sister asks her brother "Did Mom pop?" as they're standing by shreds of their mother's body. The brother, holding a pin, then says "Mom did."[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* ''Series/{{Mythbusters}}'' tested the "Little Mikey's stomach ruptured from a mixture of Pop Rocks and soda" myth. It failed.* In one episode of ''Series/InLivingColor'', Oprah Winfrey eats so much during her show that she inflates, floats above the audience and explodes in a shower of food and confetti.** Similarly, an episode of ''Series/{{MADtv}}'' spoofed on Oprah. In the sketch, she was depicted as hugely fat, but hid it with some magic cameras. When she discovered that she was being filmed with the wrong camera, she goes berserk and starts to swell, then explodes all over the audience.* Happened in the original version and the remake of Brazilian soap ''Saramandaia'', which was a FantasyKitchenSink (the author had one or more serious work censored by the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985, so he deliberatedly wrote an all-fantastic soap as a veiled protest). Dona Redonda (literal translation: Ms. Round) was a well-known glutton woman. One day, she ate so much that she entered BalloonBelly mode and literally exploded.* Happened to a car jacker in a segment of ''Series/OneThousandWaysToDie'' when he tried to steal a truck. The boss of the driver shoved the jacker against the truck, and he accidentally wound up [[AssShove getting an air pump stuck in his ass]]. The pump blew him up like a balloon until he exploded.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Mythology ]]

* OlderThanPrint: There's a Celtic fairy tale about a boy who goes into a ChainOfDeals to get the materials for a gibbet so he can hang his brother for being a glutton. After spending several days trundling around the countryside, he gets the materials and returns home to find that his brother exploded.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Poetry ]]

* A poem by Colin [=McNaughton=] foresees this and kindly warns its fellow diners.-->"If you eat one more slice of pie\\then you will burst, I fear."\\"Well, that's a risk I'd gladly take,\\but just in case -- stand clear!''* [[http://www.learnenglish.de/Level1/Poems/casabianca.html This anonymous parody]] of "The Boy Stood on the Burning Deck" [[note]]collected in Iona and Peter Opie's ''I Saw Esau''[[/note]] (scroll down to read).-->There came a hideous thunder-clap --\\The boy, oh! Where was he?\\Ask of the maid who mopped him up,\\The breadcrumbs and the tea.* F. Gwynne Evans' poem "Little Thomas" (in the anthology ''Beastly Boys and Ghastly Girls''). A choice verse:-->His old nurse cried, much disgusted-->"There, just when I've swept and dusted,-->Drat the boy! He's gone and busted-->Making such a mess."-->While the painful task of peeling-->Thomas off the walls and ceiling-->Gave his family a feeling-->Of sincere distress.* S. D. Rodrian's [[http://sdrodrian.com/poems/492.htm "The Man Who Could Slurp A Pig Up Through A Straw"]] does ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin--until in the process of proving it to witness after witness, he goes and swallows one pig too many.* This is the implied ending to the children's poem "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_Was_an_Old_Lady_Who_Swallowed_a_Fly There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly]]". She dies after swallowing a horse to catch the cow to catch the donkey to catch goat to catch the dog, and so on.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'':** Kitana's Kiss Of Death fatality has this effect on whoever it's used on.** Rain's first fatality from ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'' does this by forcing the opponent to drink water until they explode.* One of the weird ailments in ''VideoGame/ThemeHospital'' is "Bloaty Head", where the patient has a massive swollen head. The cure is to pop their head with a pin and re-inflate it.* It's one of the methods of getting rid of enemies in ''VideoGame/DigDug'', by inflating them with a pump until they pop.* Technically not a human (he's a halfling) but in ''VideoGame/{{Overlord}}'', when you defeat Melvin Underbelly, he does just [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp_9MiLxWjE&feature=related this]] at 2:25.* This is the death animation of all characters in ''Arvoesine''. They suddenly inflate for no particular reason and explode.* ''VideoGame/WarioLand'':** ''VideoGame/WarioLand2'' has a boss (The Bubble King) like this.** You have to defeat a certain boss in ''VideoGame/WarioLand3'' by pumping him full of air until he explodes.* Entering a certain code incorrectly in the earlier ''VideoGame/{{TombRaider}}'' games would cause Lara to explode.* In ''VideoGame/MetamorphicForce'' enemies swell up and explode into goo when killed.* The Microwave Expander in ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D'' turns the target into a bomb with the killing shot, damage and all.* Arcane beams in ''VideoGame/{{Magicka}}'', much like Duke Nukem above.* The secondary function of the Microwave Pulse Gun in ''VideoGame/SoldierOfFortune'' does this to enemies, and may have been inspired by ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D'''s Expander.* ''VideoGame/{{Vanquish}}'' has this happen to several victims of the [[KillSat microwave beam]] attack during the intro.* Any character or enemy in ''VideoGame/RaymanOrigins'' and ''VideoGame/RaymanLegends'' inflate like balloons and pop when they die. It's as weird as it sounds.* ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' has a weapon called the Inflato Ray that can inflict this on any of the human or alien enemies. It doesn't affect machines though.* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', [[spoiler: after defeating Zant, Midna angrily uses the power of the Fused Shadows to impale him with several twilit tendrils that cause him to rapidly swell up and explode. Much to her own horror, ''especially'' since she was only using a fraction of their power.]]* One of the bosses in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle'' is Mimmy, a strange little girl who Henry fights in a dream. After he defeats her, he stabs her in the back, which somehow causes her to inflate to enormous proportions until she explodes. It's bloodless, but as weird as it sounds.* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'', the second boss Fraaz has this happen to it upon its defeat having lost control of its BalloonBelly superpower.* In ''VideoGame/AngryBirds2'', the Pig Inflater spell will massively inflate several pigs in one stage. It doesn't pop them right away, but it can cause them to squeeze out of towers and platforms to fall and/or cause collapses.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* One of Kenny's [[OnceAnEpisode many]] deaths in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' is when he explodes after eating a whole tray of effervescent tablets and drinking a glass of water. After the initial OhCrap moment, everyone else in the room finds it hilarious.* A non-lethal version of this trope is used as the core concept of Kablamus, a villain from ''WesternAnimation/TheMask''.* Happens to Captain K'nuckles in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheMarvelousMisadventuresOfFlapjack'', after he eats so much so he can fit into a pair of fancy pants.* At the end of one of ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' show transmissions, Stimpy blows himself up as if he were a balloon, and pops over Ren, partially covering with his ruptured body.* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' episode "Just One Bite", Spongebob warns Squidward not to eat so many Krabby Patties at one time.-->'''Squidward:''' What's wrong? [[SarcasmMode Am I gonna blow up?]]\\'''Spongebob:''' No! It'll go right to your thighs!\\'''Squidward:''' My thighs?\\''(camera pans down to Squidward's bloated lower half)''\\'''Spongebob:''' ...[[CueCardPause And THEN you'll blow up!]]\\''(Squidward explodes and we cut to Squidward's head attached to an IV in the back of an ambulance with a paramedic)''\\'''Paramedic:''' Yup, I remember when I had MY first Krabby Patty.* ''WesternAnimation/PigsIsPigs'' features the cute, tiny, but unrepentantly gluttonous young piglet named Piggy, and he dreams he's been captured by a mad scientist who force feeds him for an entire day. When it's all over, he can barely walk or even speak, and just as he's about to escape, he can't resist more food. Once he takes a big bite, he explodes into several bloodless chunks before waking up.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* Be careful with air compressors! There have been cases where as a joke someone crams one into a person's [[AssShove rear end.]] It usually ends with multiple exploded organs followed by death. As an example, a construction worker nearly suffered from this when an industrial air compressor nozzle wound up get stabbed into his abdomen and released air into him. It wound up inflating him to three times his normal size and separated muscle from bone. They quickly rushed him to the hospital where the doctors couldn't do anything. Any attempt at cutting him open to let the air out could cause this trope to happen as all the air would rush out. So they had to monitor his situation and wait for his body to get rid of it naturally.... By farting....